Want to simplify the busy back-to-school season? Stock your freezer with crockpot freezer meals! Here are 31 crockpot recipes that I’ve tried myself (grocery list included!).
First, three reasons I love crockpot freezer meals:
- There’s no cooking required ahead of time so they’re super easy to make. Simply combine the ingredients in plastic freezer bags and freeze for up to three months.
- They cook for the first time out of the freezer and don’t taste like leftovers at all.
- I can save money by buying the ingredients in bulk.
Since I’ve made hundreds of crockpot freezer meals, I decided to compile a list of 31 favorites that would be perfect to eat during the busy back-to-school season. These are all healthy meals that I feel good serving my family.
If you’re nervous about mixing raw meat and vegetables, don’t be. I did a lot of research when I was writing my No Cook Freezer Meals cookbook and, according to the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service, freezing to 0 °F inactivates any microbes present in food (such as bacteria, yeasts, and molds). That means freezing raw meat with vegetables, sauces, and spices is perfectly safe. (You can find more info on food safety here.)
I’ve tried every single one of these recipes myself and they’re healthy, delicious, and easy to make. Enjoy!
31 Crockpot Freezer Meals for Back-to-School
- Chicken Curry
- Honey Dijon Chicken (from my CROCK’D Slow Cooker Freezer Meals eBook)
- Cranberry Pork Roast
- Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps
- Turkey and Black Bean Chili
- Cheesy Chicken Tater Tot Casserole (from The Country Cook)
- Shredded BBQ Chicken
- Meatball Veggie Soup
- White Chicken Chili (from Money Saving Mom)
- Chicken Fajitas
- Chicken Philly Cheesesteaks
- Beef and Barley Stew (from Live Simply)
- Beef Roast and Carrots
- Mushroom Spinach Stroganoff
- Greens & Beans
- Chicken Teriyaki
- Cranberry Chicken
- Thai Peanut Chicken (from Mommy’s Fabulous Finds)
- Turkey, White Bean, and Kale Soup
- Stuffed Peppers
- Salsa Verde Chicken (only 5 ingredients!)
- BBQ Chicken Cornbread Casserole
- Sweet and Sour Meatballs (based on this recipe from Once a Month Meals)
- Red Pepper Chicken
- Ginger-Peach Chicken
- Honey Sesame Chicken (from Damn Delicious)
- Ham and Potato Soup
- Italian Wedding Soup
- Southwestern Pork Chili
- Cabbage Casserole (one of our favorites)
- Hawaiian Pork Chops
If you’re motivated to prep and freeze all 31 at once, I typed up exactly how I assemble and cook each meal into a printable pdf (I even included a full grocery list!):
You can also find tons of freezer recipes, tips, and nutrition info in my best-selling freezer eCookbooks.
Thoughts or questions? Please leave a comment below and I’ll respond as soon as I can.
PS A reader created mini versions of some of the recipes that can be printed on white sticker labels. Here’s the file: Sticker Labels
OMG!! You might be my lifesaver! I’m a teacher who is getting ready to go back to school and already I’m stressing out on what to feed my family. My days are long and I’m not very good at thinking ahead when it comes to dinners. I love my slow cooker and try to use it as often as I can. I’m going to give your recipes a go and hopefully destress dinner time! Thanks!
Awesome. I hope these are a huge help for you, Rosa.
Hi! Can you help us know how much time we add to the recipes (assuming they are being thrown in the crockpot in the morning, completely frozen.) Thank you!
I do not recommend cooking frozen meat in the slow cooker. I know a lot of people do it with success, but the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service does not recommend it so I don’t either.
Why couldn’t you just but the meat when you will be preparing a recipe and not add to the other ingredients?
Thank you for taking the time to reply!
I’ve been doing it for years, and have not had one single problem. No one in my family has ever gotten sick from doing so…….
Whole beef roast frozen, 1/2 cup water, onion soup mix, potatoes and carrots, low for 8hrs…..Wa-la! Perfection!
Also frozen meat will be tough.
Wow!!!!! I did not know this!!!!! i have cooked frozen meat in my Crockpot for years. I have never read or heard this! I will try and put something out of the freezer and in the refrigereater the nightt before from now on! Thank you for this information!
I do it all the time for the last 30yrs im still alive
Been doing it for 60 years with absolutely no problem, and the meat is fall-off-the-bone TENDER!
As a busy chef in a restaurant I too blank out when I get home to feed my family. I use a slow cooker a lot especially in the.hot days of summer. I love this concept and will adapt to my own recipies. I whole heartedly agree with NOT cooking frozen meat. All potentially hazardous foods must be kept in safe zones. Frozen meat will not come to the proper temps fast enough to stop harmful bacteria from growing. You are potentially growing a food borne illness by doing so. It’s like leaving a turkey out overnight to thaw. Don’t… Read more »
Take your bag out the freezer (with the ingredients) and put it in the fridge the night before to thaw out. Then put it in the crockpot in the morning.
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Kelly, thank you for the great idea and recipes. I have one cleanup tip. If you load your meal in a crockpot liner first , you can push the air and twist shut. Put in your ziplock and freeze. Take it out of freezer, place in your crockpot. When done, throw away the bag for easy cleanup.
To get the air out, you can also place the filled CROCKPOT LINER into a bowl of water & allow the water pressure along the sides to push the air out, then twist tie it closed. Wipe off outside with a paper towel & place inside Ziploc bag to freeze.
If you label the CROCKPOT LINER with the food name and date prepped, you can reuse the Ziploc bags without issue or worry about a cross-contamination of foods.
Great tip!
I hear you, Rosa! After working at school yesterday, I told the kids they could have breakfast for supper because I just couldn’t think of something fast (and I may have lacked the energy to make it). Unfortunately, that meant that they ate waffles. You win some, you lose some. This is a game changer! It should make my weekly meal prep much easier, too!
Sounds great to me too. Teacher/grad student always looking for a good reason to use the crock pot!!
I saw a picture on one of the links for a brown sugar meatloaf I could freeze then bake in the oven. Where can I find this recipe at? Thank you!
https://thefamilyfreezer.com/2013/10/14/brown-sugar-meatloaf-recipe/
I thought you weren’t supposed to freeze meatloaf mix Bc it has eggs in it?
I do it all the time and have never had a problem. No difference between meatloaf and frozen cookie dough. I make a double since meatloaf, portion it out into mini loaf pans, top with bab sauce and freeze. I just thaw one overnight in the fridge, pop in in a 9×13 along with veggies for roasting and bake for an hour. It’s just my husband and I so this works great for us.
I’m not a very savvy slow-cooker user but some of these sound delicious. Do you need to thaw the ingredients before adding to the slow cooker, or add in ingredients fully frozen? I worry that the meat will take forever to cook.
I thaw the freezer bags overnight in the refrigerator.
This was the answer I was looking for I was confused if you threw them in there frozen or not haha. But another question with thawing them out over night some ingredients don’t get soggy and absorb the other things thawing making them taste funny? Example: tater tots in the tater tot casserole absorbing the chicken. Might sound silly but I’m curious.
Nope, they taste great.
Hi! Do you put the cheese and milk in the freezer bag too? I thought maybe the cheese would be okay, but I don’t know whether to freeze the milk in the bag or just pour it over everything once its in the slow cooker.
Lauren, yep! Throw it all in the bag!!
You can put a WHOLE FROZEN chicken in a crock pot by itself…no watet or anything and cook on low all day…does not stick, makes its own broth and is falling off the bone. I love to put in potatoes, carrots and onions and some mushroom soup. Let it cook all day on low. AMAZING.
I love cooking whole chicken in my crockpot. Then, I use the bones to make broth in there too. 🙂
What about adding uncooked rice? Will it cook up in juice?
It works in the cabbage casserole recipe but I haven’t tried it in others.
I always throw them in to the crock pot frozen and have never had a problem. When I get up I take the bag out of the freezer and throw it in the sink for an hour while I get ready, then the meal slides out of the bag easier.
i luv doing the homemade frozen dinners ….. if i forget the night b4 to take it out to thaw, i run the bag under some hot water n it slides right out 🙂
I like the idea of throwing the meal in frozen. However if you throw the meal in frozen, how long (and on what temp–high or low) do you cook the meal? I imagine it’s a longer cooking time than if it’s defrosted.
I recommend thawing first.
Thaw first for infection prevention. Frozen chicken in crockpot is incubating all the germs for which chicken is notorious. And, for the same reason, do not wash chicken…that spreads their bacteria all over the kitchen. Review food safety on Drexel University website. http://drexel.edu/dontwashyourchicken/
I does not take long for something to thaw in a cooker, relative to the time overall to cook it, if that time is going to be more than an hour anyway.
I don’t thaw. I place in crockpot on high frozen for 8-hours and its has always been completely done. I don’t see a need for thawing. If I’m wrong p,ease let me know. I’m in a hurry in the morning and put in crockpot and on high and go to work and when I get home it’s usually ready.
According to the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service the meat might not get to a safe temperature fast enough.
I haven’t tried a lot of freezer meals since there is only 3 of us but, I love crock pot meals and this just might be perfect for when I’m extra busy. Thanks for the round up! Saving for later.
Thanks, Theresa. 🙂
Can you give the names of the recipes in the picture of bags? I can’t do all 31 right now, but like the looks of the one with peas and the one with navy beans.
The one with peas is chicken curry and the one with beans is greens & beans.
About how many people do these recipes serve? Family of 4?
The average is 4-6. If you open the printable pdf, you will see it broken down by recipe.
How many does each meal feed? I have a family of 6 and need to be sure I don’t have to add more to accommodate all of us.
The average is 4-6, but you will have to check the individual recipes in the pdf to be sure. If you need to add more servings, adding an extra pound of meat is an easy way to do it.
Each of your recipes tends to make 2 meals for my family of three – we eat one on the night we slow cook it, and then usually can freeze the other half (already cooked) for a 2nd night down the road. Potatoes don’t freeze well, or mushrooms, but usually they refreeze well once cooked.